Derek Twigg: I am pleased to be able to announce to the House today the outcome of a wide-ranging review of Gurkha Terms and Conditions of Service, which was announced by the then Secretary of State for Defence in January 2005. This has been a very comprehensive review and as a consequence it has taken longer than was originally anticipated.
	As the House is aware, it has been the policy of successive British Governments to ensure that the terms and conditions under which Gurkhas serve in the British Army remain fair and reflect the needs of Gurkha soldiers and their families. The Gurkhas became a UK-based Brigade on 1 July 1997 and the time is now right for their terms and conditions of service to be revised fully to reflect their role and status in the 21st century.
	As a result of this review I am pleased to announce that, with certain exceptions designed to satisfy the Government of Nepal, all the remaining differences between Gurkhas' terms and conditions of service and those of their British counterparts are to be eliminated. I am making arrangements necessary to ensure that members of the British Brigade of Gurkhas retain their distinctive identity and ethos as Nepalese citizens serving in their own units within the British Army.
	The measures necessary to implement the new terms and conditions of service will begin to take effect from April 2007. In the particular case of pensions, we propose to give serving Gurkhas the opportunity to transfer from their current Gurkha pension scheme to one of the two armed forces pension schemes (AFPS), from a planned member transfer date of 1 October 2007. Retired Gurkhas who left service on or after 1 July 1997 will also be given the opportunity to access AFPS benefits.
	This is good news, both for serving or recently retired Gurkhas and their families and for the British Army. The move to new and fairer terms and conditions of service will hopefully provide the basis for the foreseeable future of Gurkha service in the British Army, which is only made possible by the long-standing and friendly relations between the Governments and peoples of the United Kingdom and Nepal.
	The review did not include consideration of the situation of Gurkha veterans who retired before 1 July 1997, for the reasons which my predecessor made clear to the House last summer. We will continue to respond to veterans grievances with a view to resolving any misunderstandings which may have arisen.
	A copy of the report of the review of Gurkha terms and conditions of service, which has been redacted so as not to disclose privileged legal advice, will be made available in the Library of the House.

Patricia Hewitt: On 22 November 2005,1 announced in the House of Commons that a review of the arrangements currently in place for the seasonal influenza programme in England would be carried out. This review has now been completed and published today. A copy of the review has been placed in the Library.
	The review details the current seasonal influenza vaccine supply system in England and provides a range of recommendations to strengthen the management of the programme. I welcome the report and commend the reviewers for such a thorough piece of work. The Department will be considering the detailed recommendations.
	I would also like to provide details of this year's seasonal influenza vaccination uptake. Despite reported delays to the distribution of influenza vaccine at the start of the programme, by the middle of December 14.6 million doses of vaccine had been distributed in the UK. This is about 900,000 doses more than in the previous year.
	Final vaccine uptake data collected by the Health Protection Agency on behalf of the Department at the end of January 2007 show that vaccine uptake in those aged 65 and over was 74 per cent. comparable to the level of 75 per cent. achieved at the same time last year. This compares with the World Health Organisation target of 75 per cent. by 2010. Vaccine uptake in those under 65 in an at-risk group was 42 per cent. compared to 48 per cent. at the same time last year.
	These levels of vaccination represent an excellent achievement by the general practitioners, nurses, health service providers and primary care organisations that deliver this service, especially when taking into consideration the fact that vaccine deliveries were delayed by several weeks.

Tony McNulty: The statistics for 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were authorised was 18,891.
	The police discharged a conventional firearm in nine incidents. In addition, the Police discharged baton rounds or AEP in 14 incidents and fired Taser in 89 incidents.
	Armed response vehicles were deployed on 14,355 occasions and there were 6,584 authorised firearms officers in England and Wales.
	Full details are set out in the following tables:
	
		
			 Number of operations in which firearms were authorised 
			  2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 
			 Total 13,991 14,827 16,657 15,981 18,891 
			 Avon and Somerset 195 262 311 333 247 
			 Bedfordshire 237 301 442 475 575 
			 Cambridgeshire 114 57 104 241 201 
			 Cheshire 419 451 397 358 367 
			 Cleveland 37 170 453 530 657 
			 City of London 40 131 364 404 323 
			 Cumbria 71 77 72 152 112 
			 Derbyshire 275 401 369 287 305 
			 Devon and Cornwall 101 96 112 71 84 
			 Dorset 184 193 231 223 263 
			 Durham 89 83 156 144 291 
			 Essex 323 312 275 296 432 
			 Gloucestershire 165 185 127 176 229 
			 Greater Manchester 580 518 507 461 478 
			 Hampshire 198 162 208 237 289 
			 Hertfordshire 112 172 195 185 187 
			 Humberside 297 187 183 206 362 
			 Kent 115 137 207 163 219 
			 Lancashire 232 238 318 241 240 
			 Leicestershire 300 268 295 260 363 
			 Lincolnshire 477 392 386 294 220 
			 Merseyside 1,020 628 751 733 669 
			 Metropolitan 2,447 3,199 3,563 2,964 4,711 
			 Norfolk 175 200 178 195 175 
			 Northamptonshire 43 138 148 158 137 
			 Northumbria 1,440 1,275 1,140 977 611 
			 North Yorkshire 92 100 147 185 183 
			 Nottinghamshire 384 452 459 408 394 
			 South Yorkshire 258 463 484 546 749 
			 Staffordshire 232 281 255 216 171 
			 Suffolk 163 270 251 153 202 
			 Surrey 245 247' 203 151 222 
			 Sussex 248 204 280 187 190 
			 Thames Valley 179 167 195 289 427 
			 Warwickshire 130 149 164 124 180 
			 West Mercia 117 91 197 162 122 
			 West Midlands 822 902 1,377 1,264 1,044 
			 West Yorkshire 757 604 575 853 1,335 
			 Wiltshire 45 58 63 88 139 
			 Dyfed Powys 28 29 28 51 63 
			 Gwent 20 37 40 81 94 
			 North Wales 302 259 197 223 350 
			 South Wales 283 281 250 236 279 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs) 
			  2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 
			 Total 5,776 5,763 6,96 6,243 6,584 
			 Avon and Somerset 116 84 122 118 117 
			 Bedfordshire 48 53 58 56 59 
			 Cambridgeshire 56 71 60 60 50 
			 Cheshire 81 89 75 76 73 
			 Cleveland 85 80 95 100 100 
			 City of London 73 72 86 89 86 
			 Cumbria 92 87 89 90 89 
			 Derbyshire 80 69 70 74 75 
			 Devon and Cornwall 108 115 132 123 122 
			 Dorset 57 59 60 64 62 
			 Durham 86 102 97 103 100 
			 Essex 180 184 186 202 205 
			 Gloucestershire 71 80 82 93 92 
			 Greater Manchester 219 202 205 187 245 
			 Hampshire 87 94 94 92 97 
			 Hertfordshire 46 47 50 53 52 
			 Humberside 96 96 96 101 92 
			 Kent 113 93 90 94 94 
			 Lancashire 138 129 122 115 123 
			 Leicestershire 69 68 51 53 59 
			 Lincolnshire 91 87 78 86 87 
			 Merseyside 78 84 94 93 129 
			 Metropolitan 1,805 1,823 2,060 2,134 2,331 
			 Norfolk 104 109 114 125 119 
			 Northamptonshire 51 56 52 50 56 
			 Northumbria 125 99 90 93 98 
			 North Yorkshire 66 64 60 56 78 
			 Nottinghamshire 136 131 138 138 149 
			 South Yorkshire 92 100 98 122 116 
			 Staffordshire 71 63 67 76 70 
			 Suffolk 90 80 96 88 84 
			 Surrey 62 48 53 49 51 
			 Sussex 120 141 134 130 129 
			 Thames Valley 156 180 172 176 180 
			 Warwickshire 50 51 46 53 55 
			 West Mercia 125 131 139 141 152 
			 West Midlands 111 110 124 134 145 
			 West Yorkshire 116 132 140 130 150 
			 Wiltshire 71 78 80 74 72 
			 Dyfed Powys 77 62 58 79 68 
			 Gwent 57 60 71 74 86 
			 North Wales 83 75 73 65 57 
			 South Wales 138 125 139 134 130 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of operations involving armed response vehicles (ARVs) 
			  2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 
			 Total 11,574 11,848 13,218 13,137 14,355 
			 Avon and Somerset 173 215 249 312 167 
			 Bedfordshire 172 269 414 419 534 
			 Cambridgeshire 43 45 155 172 160 
			 Cheshire 523 337 356 773 807 
			 Cleveland 13 63 86 154 285 
			 City of London 39 131 364 275 234 
			 Cumbria 53 45 65 134 90 
			 Derbyshire 253 363 312 254 257 
			 Devon and Cornwall 76 32 94 54 54 
			 Dorset 182 180 215 195 246 
			 Durham 57 66 96 91 256 
			 Essex 165 176 138 138 155 
			 Gloucestershire 140 166 109 121 145 
			 Greater Manchester 528 406 440 364 306 
			 Hampshire 116 108 128 167 178 
			 Hertfordshire 81 129 157 155 160 
			 Humberside 273 170 158 184 335 
			 Kent 89 132 193 124 183 
			 Lancashire 192 185 273 228 232 
			 Leicestershire 292 232 269 232 328 
			 Lincolnshire 470 367 355 276 210 
			 Merseyside 974 547 687 677 611 
			 Metropolitan 1,667 2,447 2,423 2,322 2,572 
			 Norfolk 157 186 169 163 149 
			 Northamptonshire 25 90 99 89 101 
			 Northumbria 1,49 1,04 1,063 893 585 
			 North Yorkshire 60 67 110 144 208 
			 Nottinghamshire 333 397 404 336 342 
			 South Yorkshire 221 280 322 438 632 
			 Staffordshire 208 241 212 183 154 
			 Suffolk 116 160 194 119 149 
			 Surrey 225 240 190 140 204 
			 Sussex 189 171 250 163 162 
			 Thames Valley 174 167 179 265 355 
			 Warwickshire 104 31 138 102 144 
			 West Mercia 100 111 241 152 94 
			 West Midlands 563 592 975 952 745 
			 West Yorkshire 609 565 543 656 1040 
			 Wiltshire 43 39 28 54 124 
			 Dyfed Powys 28 29 28 48 55 
			 Gwent 16 16 23 74 85 
			 North Wales 265 198 153 180 299 
			 South Wales 218 253 161 165 223

Jack Straw: For many years the drafting of primary legislation has relied on section 6 of the Interpretation Act 1978, under which words referring to the masculine gender include the feminine. In practice this means that male pronouns are used on their own in contexts where a reference to women and men is intended, and also that words such as chairman are used for offices capable of being held by either gender. Many believe that this practice tends to reinforce historic gender stereotypes and presents an obstacle to clearer understanding for those unfamiliar with the convention.
	I have worked with colleagues in Government to secure agreement, that it would be right, where practicable, to avoid this practice in future and, accordingly, Parliamentary Counsel has been asked to adopt gender-neutral drafting.
	From the beginning of next Session, Government Bills will take a form which achieves gender-neutral drafting so far as it is practicable, at no more than a reasonable cost to brevity or intelligibility. This policy already applies to tax law rewrite Bills and is consistent with the practice in many other jurisdictions in the English-speaking world.
	The Government recognise that, in practice, Parliamentary Counsel will need to adopt a flexible approach to this change (for example, in at least some of the cases where existing legislation originally drafted in the former style is being amended).
	I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Meg Munn MP) for raising this matter with me.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Spring Supplementary Estimate 2006-07

Alan Johnson: Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Department for Education and Skills Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL), (including the Office for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools (OFSTED) which has a separate Estimate) will be increased by £139,575,000 from £59,602,990,000 to £59,742,565,000 the administration cost budget will be increased by £5,500,000 from £272,561,000 to £278,061,000.
	Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:
	
		
			 DfES Resources Capital(***) 
			  Change New DEL Of which: Voted Non-voted Change New DEL Of which: Voted Non-voted 
			  £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 
			 RfR 1 242,109 51,999,450 35,001,134 16,998,316 13,241 5,853,146 3,373,907 2,479,239 
			 RfR 2 -115,601 1,113,542 1,113,542 0 0 426,425 426,425 0 
			 RfR 3 220 145,796 145,796 0 0 0 0 0 
			 OFSTED 206 204,206 204,206 0 -600 0 0 0 
			 Sub Total 126,934 53,462,994 36,464,678 16,998,316 12,641 6,279,571 3,800,332 2,479,239 
			 (**)Of which Admin Budget 5,500 278,061 278,061 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Near-cash in RDEL -414,308 52,185,665 35,174,731 17,010,934 0 0 0 0 
			 (*)Depreciation -707 -35,606 -9,175 -26,431 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 126,227 53,424,888 36,453,003 16,971,885 12,641 6,279,571 3,800,332 2,479,239 
			 (*)Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL, in the table above, since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting. 
			 (**)The total of 'Administration budget' and 'Near-cash in resource DEL' figures may well be greater than total resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping. 
			 (***)Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in Estimates and accounts but which are treated as Capital DEL in budgets. 
		
	
	Within the administration cost budget changes, the impact is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 DfES Original Change Revised 
			  £'000 £'000 £'000 
			 DfES (RfR1) 244,091 5,500 249,591 
			 OFSTED 28,470 0 28,470 
			 Total 272,561 5,500 278,061 
		
	
	Resource DEL
	The increase in the resource element of the DEL of £126,934,000 arises from an increase in the voted element of the resource DEL of £9,730,000 and an increase of £117,204,000 in the non-voted element of resource DEL mainly in the Department's Non-Departmental Public Bodies.
	Voted Resource DEL
	The £9,730,000 increase in the voted element of the resource DEL arises from:
	RFR1
	The take up of end year flexibility of £105,500,000 for the resource consequences of Student loans £100,000,000, for pay and pensions for departmental running costs £5,500,000.
	A movement of £115,048,000 from RFR2, £82,325,000 in respect of Nursery Education Extension Funding, £50,000 in respect of Early Years National Travellers Programme, £1,500,000 in respect of Child Contact Centres, £2,500,000 in respect of Early Years Foundation Centres, £100,000 in respect of Early Years data collection pilot, £28,573,000 in respect of current grants.
	A £124,710,000 virement to non voted resource DEL, £25,523,000 to support Schools and Teachers, £25,193,000 to support Higher Education, £73,089,000 to support Further education and Lifelong Learning, £905,000 to support Children, Young People and Families.
	A £29,951,000 virement from non voted resource DEL for other central services.
	A movement of £220,000 to RFR3, for repayment of the Children's Fund loan.
	An increase of £72,000 for Special Educational Needs for dyslexia taken up from the Invest to Save Budget.
	A transfer from the Home Office of £604,000 for Offender Education.
	Transfers to Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools (OFSTED) £393,000 for the Childcare register and to the Home Office £947,000 for Offender Education.
	RFR2
	A movement of £1,327,000 from non voted departmental unallocated provision for Central Government grants.
	A movement of £116,928,000 to RFR1, £82,325,000 in respect of Nursery Education Extension Funding, £50,000 in respect of Early Years National Travellers Programme, £1,500,000 in respect of Child Contact Centres, £2,500,000 in respect of Early Years Foundation Centres, £100,000 in respect of Early Years data collection pilot, £28,573,000 in respect of current grants. A movement of £1,880,000 to RFR1 non budget section in respect of the National College for Schools Leadership.
	RFR3
	A movement of £220,000 from RFR1 for repayment of Children's Fund loan.
	OFSTED
	The increase of £206,000 in resource DEL arises from:
	A transfer from the Department of Education and Skills £393,000 for the Childcare register.
	A decrease of £187,000 from profit on the sale of an asset.
	Non-voted resource DEL
	The £117,204,000 increase in Non-voted resource DEL arises from:
	A £124,710,000 virement from RFR1 voted resource DEL, £25,523,000 to support Schools and Teachers, £25,193,000 to support Higher Education, £73,089,000 to support Further education and Lifelong Learning, £905,000 to support Children, Young People and Families.
	A £29,951,000 virement to RFR1 voted resource DEL for other central services.
	A movement of £1,880,000 from RFR2 voted resource DEL to support the National College for Schools Leadership.
	A transfer in of £5,669,000 from Department of Health for pension indexation.
	The take up of end year flexibility of £16,500,000 for take up of Adult Learning Inspectorate provisions £4,500,000 and for take up of Qualifications and Curriculum Authority provisions £12,000,000.
	A reclassification of £277,000 from non-voted resource DEL to non-voted capital DEL for the Office for Children's Commissioner capital investment.
	A movement of £1,327,000 to RFR2 Central government grants from departmental unallocated provision.
	Capital DEL
	The increase in the capital element of the DEL of £12,641,000 arises from a £4,472,000 decrease in the voted element of capital DEL and an increase of £17,113,000 in the non-voted element of capital DEL.
	Voted Capital DEL
	The £4,472,000 decrease in the voted element of the capital DEL arises from:
	RFR1
	The take up of End Year Flexibility of £7,964,000 for the Cybrarian capital modernisation fund £7,851,000 and the Invest to Save Budget for Construction Industry Training Board £113,000.
	A £16,836,000 virement to non-voted capital DEL £11,000,000 for support to Higher Education, £51,000 for the School Food Trust, £1,105,000 for support to the Sector Skills Development Agency, £4,680,000 from the departmental unallocated provision for Central Government grants.
	Transfer from the Department for Communities and Local Government of £5,000,000 for the combined Universities of Cornwall.
	The decrease of £600,000 in OFSTED capital for non-operating appropriation in aid in respect of the sale of an asset.
	Non-voted Capital DEL
	The £17,113,000 increase in the non-voted element of capital DEL arises from:
	A £16,836,000 virement from voted capital DEL £11,000,000 for support to Higher Education, £51,000 for the School Food Trust, £1,105,000 for support to the Sector Skills Development Agency, £4,680,000 from the departmental unallocated provision for Central Government grants.
	A reclassification of £277,000 from non-voted resource DEL to non-voted capital DEL for the Office for Children's Commissioner capital investment.
	Administration Cost Budget
	The take up of End Year Flexibility of £5,500,000 to cover net pressure on departmental administration costs.